Southend United have been ridiculed after a sponsorship deal resulted in one of the stands at their ground being unintentionally named after infamous serial killer Rose West.
The non-league side announced this week that they had sold the naming rights of one of the stands at their Roots Hall home to local estate agents Gilbert & Rose. It turned out to be for the west stand, which has led to the unfortunate new name of the 'Gilbert and Rose West stand'.
The aforementioned West is one of the most infamous serial killers in Britain, who along with her husband Fred killed at least 12 people including Fred's ex-wife and their children. Twitter users were quick to point out the faux pas, with one writing: "I don't think they thought this one through."
Another put: "How has this been approved?"
Southend, preparing for a second season in the National League, have been contacted for comment by Mirror Football . The club have endured a miserable time of it in recent seasons, posting an uninspiring 13th-placed finish in the National League last term.
That at least stopped the rot after two successive relegations. Southend legend Kevin Maher is hoping for a much better season this time around, having taken over from Phil Brown last October.
Brown's departure and trouble behind-the-scenes led to Southend favourite Stan Collymore getting involved with the club.
The former striker, who spent one prolific season at Roots Hall before being sold to Nottingham Forest in 1993, was appointed senior football strategist earlier this year and not long after his appointment there was a much-needed upsurge in results.
Speaking to the Mail earlier this year, Collymore said: "The uptick in results didn’t come until Christmas, so on Twitter and forums I had some abuse. I have had to put the phone away occasionally. Go easy on Twitter. You know what I can be like. A bit combative, having a nibble.
"I went in to the dressing room in the early days and the players’ eyes had gone. A classic down-trodden group. I told them people were going to come in and help them. And they have. The difference already is night and day."
The Shrimpers kick off the new campaign at home to Boreham Wood on Saturday.
Earlier this week they lost Sam Dalby to big-spending Wrexham but did at least manage to recruit Jake Hyde on a season-long loan arrangement from the Dragons. "He’s a proven striker at this level, he was sought after last year when he went to Wrexham and again this season," said Maher.
"We know what he will bring - goals, knowledge of the league and his knowledge of the game is very good too. I’m delighted to have him in and a lot of clubs were after him in this league and the one above. He was desperate to come to the club."
